High performance is designed. Not demanded.
Crystal Nicholls - Former West End Performer & Keynote Speaker on Sustainable Performance
Are you leading a high-performance environment where…
🛑 Talented people are exhausted, depleted, and just getting through the week?
🛑 High standards are being met, but at an unsustainable personal cost?
🛑 Ill-health, injury, stress or burnout are becoming normalised rather than addressed?
🛑 People are doing everything asked of them, yet performance, confidence, and morale are slipping?
🛑 There’s a fear of speaking up about health, capacity, or workload?
🛑 You know something needs to change, but you’re unsure how to create it without lowering standards?
My mission
I help leaders and teams in high-performance organisations to shift from asking individuals to “cope better” to creating environments that no longer demand burnout as the cost of success.
Where high performance and wellbeing can coexist, and where people can do their best work without burning out.
Why this matters to me
I get it because I’ve lived it.
I spent over a decade working across stage and screen in some of the most demanding performance environments there are. I’ve worked inside organisations where I was constantly firefighting, supporting exhausted people while systems stayed the same.
I’ve seen what happens when resilience is praised, but recovery is ignored.
When “the show must go on” becomes a health risk.
And when individuals are asked to cope with conditions that were never designed to sustain them.
Now, I support leaders and organisations to create these environments with clarity, confidence, and care.
My work draws on:
Evidence-based performance and health science to support energy, recovery, focus, and sustainable output
Mental skills and nervous system regulation to improve decision-making, stress tolerance, and confidence under pressure
Coaching frameworks that help individuals and leaders clarify priorities, align values, and lead with intention
Behavioural science to design environments and habits that support performance without burnout
Over a decade in elite performance environments, bringing lived insight into what it truly takes to perform consistently under pressure
Ways to Work With Me
Keynote Speaking
Keynote Speaking on Sustainable Performance & Burnout Prevention.
Leadership training, Consultancy & Workshops
Leadership training, consultancy, and evaluation designed to embed health-informed practice into high-performance environments.
One-to-One Coaching
One-to-one coaching uses evidence-based behaviour change to help you build sustainable habits that support your energy, stress management, and confidence, so you can perform at your best without burning out.
Each programme is tailored to your unique context, demands, and goals.
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Maria
“I now know how to prepare my body for the best outcome through food and exercise and I've learned how to reprogram my brain to approach everything with a positive and grounded energy regardless of the outcome and I can tell you things have changed! I have never auditioned so much and received such good feedback in the entirety of my career in the UK. So if you're looking for a coach that will help you put your best foot forward look no further because SHE IS IT.”
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Melissa
“I feel healthier and more equipped with knowledge of what my body needs. It was great to connect with someone who completely understood the physical aspects of my job and was flexible with my ever changing schedule. I felt extremely supported and looked after. I'm really grateful for all her help!”
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Sanya
“I am so happy and satisfied and in tune with my body and I've never been in a better place. Together we have found the perfect methods and way of life that keep me gaining, growing, healthy and content.”
